"The Wii was able to reach a large number of new consumers who had never played games before by bringing hands-on experiences with its Wii Sports and Wii Fit," Iwata said. "However, we could not adequately create [a] situation [where] such new consumers played games frequently or for long, consistent periods. As a result, we could not sustain a good level of profit."

"Moreover, regrettably, what we prioritised in order to reach out to the new audience was a bit too far from what we prioritised for those who play games as their hobby. Consequently, we presume some people felt that the Wii was not a game system for them or they were not willing to play with the Wii even though some compelling games had been released."

Iwata added: "Once consumers have a notion that 'this system is not for us,' we have learned that it is extremely difficult to change their perceptions later."

Iwata explained that with the Nintendo 3DS so far, and looking forward at the launch of Wii U later this year, Nintendo hopes to continue to widen its audience while better addressing the deeper needs of its core customers.

"With the Nintendo DS and the Wii, the approach of 'width' was well accepted by many people; however, what we did in terms of 'depth' was not satisfactory for some consumers. This time, we would like consumers to be satisfied in both aspects," he continued.

"In order to do so, we started to work on the 'depth' aspect first, and the current and existing software you can see for the Nintendo 3DS is based on that idea. In the future, the approach will evolve.

"By exploring the development both from width and depth standpoints, it is our intention to satisfy a wider audience with one gaming platform. Our approach for the Wii U is basically the same."

In its first year, the Nintendo 3DS has seen several releases from the publisher's core franchises, including Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7 and Kid Icarus: Uprising. Iwata's indication suggests that the Wii U will see similar support.

The Wii U's full launch lineup will be revealed at E3 2012, which is said to include New Super Mario Bros 2, Pikmin 3 and the recently leaked Rayman Legends.